Re: Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia

[Dolphin__0]

Posted By Dolphin on April 24, 1999 at 11:59:32
At what point dose tachycardia become a concern?  When is it time to go to the Dr or ER.  e.g. 160bpm or more.  What treatment options are there?

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on April 24, 1999 at 18:51:34

Dear dolphin
It depends on the circumstances. If your heart rate is jumping up to 160 while you are sitting around not doing anything, then it is time to go to the ER. If your heart rate goes to 160 with exercise, that can be quite appropriate. The diagnosis of true inappropriate sinus tachycardia is difficult to make. If it is being considered, you should be evaluated by a cardiac electrophysiologist. You can be treated with either medications or an ablation procedure, depending on the specifics.
I hope this has been useful. Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck.
Information provided here is of a general nature.  Specific diagnoses and treatments can only be made by your doctor

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on April 25, 1999 at 07:24:38
Dear dolphin
Ablation is not a new procedure - it has now been around for a while. Ablation can be performed for inappropriate sinus tachycardia, though the rates of success are lower and the rates of recurrence are higher than for other types of arrhythmia for which ablations are performed. Th real question is whether you really have an inappropriate sinus tachycardia that is amenable to ablation.
I hope this has been useful. Feel free to write back with further questions. Good luck.
Information provided here is of a general nature.  Specific diagnoses and treatments can only be made by your doctor.  If you would like to be seen at the Cleveland Clinic, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE for an appointment with a cardiologist at Desk F15.

[Ed-Sicoli]

Posted By Ed Sicoli on April 25, 1999 at 12:57:41
Dear Doctor,
I also have had bouts of "inappropriate" tachycardia for almost seven years now.
It started with episodes of SVT's that would last for several hours!Especially if I ingested alcohol,which by the way I discovered on my own.Of course, I quit  drinking since I definately found one trigger,specifically for the SVT.I turned to a cardologist here in n.j.and had every non-invasive test including a  thallium stress test and I get echo's,ekg's,reg.stress tests and bloodwork periodically,since I'm very concerned about my heart now. I'm taking tenormin it definately supresses the svt's,however, it doesn't supress the consistant but intermitant pvc's and sinus tach which both come out of the blue and are I'm sure,triggered by various things such as climbing a flight of stairs,sex,gentle sex I might add,being stressed and worried about the possible senerio's of my condition and heart,sometimes excitability even triggers a BAD pvc or tachycardia despite the beta -blocker but I will say it subsides quickly and I haven't gotten an svt.Ironically,I could do the prior things I just mentioned and I don't get sinus tach or pvc? I'm sick of being on meds for this since they themselves are affecting my quality of life.For one thing they impair your thinking and concentration,ruin your sex life,without a doubt,affect your short term memory,make you unable to tolerate cold and mildly hot temperatures,I can't deal with this anymore!I'm affraid to exercise fearing I might trigger the next pvc and/or tachycardia,this is no way to live.Having physicians in the family and researching this on my own for the last 7 yrs. I know my only choice is an E.P.study which I'm terrified of knowing they can worsen the arrhythmia, puncture a vein or artery, if  i do have a bypass tract and it's too close to the sinus node they may ablate that, now I'll need a pacemaker at 43 yrs. old;no way jose'.I can't understand why a dr. won't take the time and effort to monitor your heart continually until he or she sees the exact event you   experience when it happens, thus maybe the treatment would be more approriate or even more effective for my problem.The only arrhythmia caught on a holter was the SVT with a rate of 180-190bpm,however, this was when I wasn.t taking meds. on a regular basis.The bottom line is that basically the SVT's are under control w/meds that's o.k. I guess but why now the ever so frightning pvc's have to start occurring the last 3-4 yrs. of 7yrs. when the initial episodes of only SVT"s occurred.Is it incidental or a coincidence or is there a relationship between the two despite one problem is occurring in the atria and the other(pvc's not pac's)is occurring in the ventricles? This is why I have reservations about the EP study,can they use RF ablation for both problems? If not what's the sense, because believe me,the pvc's are just as frightening and disconcerting as the svt's. We'll, that's my story,and with the advent of computers and the internet I'm giving it my best shot and hopefully, a good natured physcian will be the recipient of this e-mail (letter) and offer some advice.                                                                                              Thank You  Ed sicoli,a guy in N.J.

[CCF CARDIO MD DLB]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - DLB on April 26, 1999 at 15:52:51
Dear Ed
The EP study might be able to locate the source of the SVT and lead to a successful ablation. Then you could stop taking the medicine that seems to be causing so many side effects. However, the small risk of needing a pacemaker as a complication of the procedure is something that you would have to accept. Ablations are rarely done for certain types of PVCs as a measure of last resort.
I hope this has been useful. I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to write back.
Information provided here is for general purposes only. Specific questions should be addressed to your own doctor. If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

[Vicki__0__0]

Posted By Vicki on May 16, 1999 at 12:37:31
Dear doctor,
I am a 44 yr old female, have been diagnosed with connective tissue disease with raynaud's Phenomenon and I have also been diagnosed with Sinus Tachycardia(ST).  I  had a normal echocardiogram and normal heart monitor.  My thyroid test was also normal.  I am on Trental, Prednisone, and recently started Celebrex all for my connective tissue disease.  I am also on Verapamil for ST and Lanoxin for extra heart beats.  My heart resting heart rate still runs from 98 to 130.  I was on Toprol, 120mg in the very beginning of all this and it brought my rate down to 80 to 114 range, but my arthritis doctor had my cardiologist take me off because of my raynauds.  The channel blockers don't help me any at all.  What do you think about going back on the beta blockers?  Also this past week I have been having a very  fast heart rate at night, it keeps me from falling asleep as I can hear and feel it in my ears and chest.  Also I have sweats and chills with it.  This goes on for hours until I am finally so exhausted that I will fall asleep.  This has come about at night since I added the Celebrex and Varapamil to the mix of medicines.  The Lanoxin is .25mg and Verapamil is 120 mgs.  Do you think the medicines are causing my night problems?  Can I live with IST without any damage to my heart.  My cardiologist wants to send me to an electrocardiologist if the latest medicine doesn't help. What do you think?  I am very frightened about that idea. I am afraid of the chances of messing up my heart rythum or worse, death during the procedure.   Can a person live with this without having anything done?  










Follow Ups:


Re: Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia CCF CARDIO MD - DLB 5/20/1999
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Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia Vicki 5/21/1999
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Re: Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia CCF CARDIO MD - DLB 5/31/1999
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